Conchata Galen Ferrell (March 28, 1943 – October 12, 2020) was an American actress. She played Berta the housekeeper on the sitcom Two and a Half Men from 2003 to 2015, and she received two nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for the role (in 2005 and 2007), as well as a TV Land Award in 2009. Ferrell had previously been nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her performance in L.A. Law (in 1992). A seasoned stage actress, Farrell's performance in the stage play The Sea Horse earned her an Obie Award, a Drama Desk Award and a Theatre World Award. Her big screen work included roles in such films as Network (1976), Where the River Runs Black (1986), For Keeps (1988), Edward Scissorhands (1990), True Romance (1993), Erin Brockovich (2000) and Krampus (2015). Farrell's turn in the 1979 frontier western saga Heartland earned her a Western Heritage Award.
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Early life
Conchata Galen Ferrell was born March 28, 1943, in Loudendale, West Virginia, the first of two children, to Mescal Loraine (née George) and Luther Martin Ferrell. She was raised in Charleston, West Virginia. Her family later moved to Circleville, Ohio.
She attended West Virginia University for two years, dropped out, and after working several jobs, enrolled and graduated from Marshall University with a degree in history education. She made her first onstage performance at Marshall in 1969, in the second Barfenon Review, a skit comedy and musical production.
